The present invention relates generally to cooling fluid flow and control, and more particularly, to methods and systems for ensuring evenly distributed cooling fluid flow to a group of electrical device cooling components.
Many industries use various types of electronic devices, such as computer servers and other electronic devices having electronic processors and sensors that generate heat during use. The electronic devices are frequently attached to racks capable of supporting the electronic devices and require the continuous removal of heat for proper operation. With the ongoing shrinkage of electronic devices, the use of air as a cooling medium has reached a limitation on how much heat can be reasonably removed with a reasonably attainable air stream. Accordingly, an improved cooling method employs direct conduction cooling from a cooling fluid stream flowing within one or more heat sinks used in this field, generally known as “cold plates,” that contact either the components themselves or the heat rejection plate of a secondary cooling loop in contact with the components.
The cold plates require a sufficient flow of cooling fluid that is significantly lower than flow rates previously encountered in air heat exchanger applications and even in other fluid cooled applications. Other applications can use commercially available spring-based flow regulators. However, considering the typical nature, size and number of cold plates needed for the cooling of many electronic devices, there are no commercially available spring-based flow regulators of the required flow rate and flow range tolerances for such important but low thermal loads as associated with electronics systems. Additionally, commercial development of a spring-based flow regulator is not economically practical and the resulting product would expect to suffer from unsuitably wide performance tolerances.
Therefore, there is a need for a cooling fluid delivery system that addresses these shortcomings. The present disclosure provides improved systems and methods for metering the flow of a cooling fluid for cooling a group of electrical devices. Moreover, the system and method herein help ensure that the total flow is, with a high tolerance for input variations, evenly distributed among the cooling components for the electrical devices where the individual components would not suitably be metered separately with standard flow regulators.